"Not one pitch Paul Skenes threw mattered" - San Diego analysts claim Jackson Merrill’s clutch plays for Padres were overlooked nationally
It's been two days since NL Rookie of the Year was announced but some are still not getting over San Diego Padres star Jackson Merrill being snubbed in favor of Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. Skenes received 26 out of a possible 30 first-place votes, while Merrill received the remaining four votes in ROY voting.
Among those not buying Merrill missing out on NL ROY were Padres analysts Jon Schaeffer and Jim Russell, who pointed out the reason why the Padres rookie was more deserving. They highlighted his clutch plays against Skenes, whose team didn't reach the postseason.
"Where was the narrative nationally that this guy's Mr. Clutch? Jackson Merrill came through in the clutch time and time again—seventh inning or later, eighth inning or later, down or tied, go-ahead or tying moments," Schaeffer said on Jon and Jim(4:15 onwards).
"He had a handful of them, and I don't recall Paul Skenes having that. Like, oh man, that Cardinal start, he brought them back from the no. Starting pitchers don’t really do that. Jackson Merrill was really good, and he was really clutch. I feel like nationally that wasn't as relevant as it was locally."
Jim Russell added to the point, saying:
"There was not one pitch that Paul Skenes threw this year that mattered at all. They were okay for half the year, they were in the wild card race, but not one pitch mattered as much as what Jackson Merrill did this year."
Narrative around "clutch performances" for Jackson Merrill, does it matter in MLB?
Jon Schaeffer and Jim Russell are not the only ones pointing out that Jackson Merrill's "clutch performances" should have been the difference on his way to NL Rookie of the Year.
However, among all North American sports leagues, including the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLS, MLB stands in the least position to crown someone simply based on how the team performs.
NBA voters are more bullish on how the team performs while acknowledging players for awards, but baseball is a multi-dimensional team sport based on contributions from everyone rather than more or less relying on one or two players like in basketball.
This is why Mike Trout has three MVPs despite his LA Angels never making an impact when it comes to regular season records.
Thus, though Jackson Merrill's San Diego Padres had a far better year than Paul Skenes' Pittsburgh Pirates, the fact of the matter remains that this is an individual award, and team performances are not taken into consideration.